Chapter 5
That night, my scream pierced the air as I jolted awake. I gasped for breath, trying to hold in the sobs that threatened to overcome me. I had hoped that moving away would release me from my past, but my nightmares still swamped my subconscious mind. ‘They are never going to go away!’ I thought in despair. I would hear the screams of my dying family echoing around my brain forever, etched into my memory. I dissolved into tears as the feeling of hopelessness overwhelmed me.
Suddenly, I heard a door slam and the sound of running footsteps along the corridor.
“Hello? Who screamed? Is everyone alright?” a man’s voice called, as he paced around outside.
I froze in my bed, holding my breath with wide eyes. It was Mr Cooper. A soft knock came at my door.
“Miss Miller, are you awake? Was that you?” he whispered quietly but urgently. I bit my lip anxiously and did not reply. After a pause, I heard him move along to the next room and knock there. I relaxed slightly and curled up into a ball on my bed. My sobs longed to break through, but I fought against the tears, for fear of being overheard. I clenched my jaw and shut my eyes, trying to think of nothing. Soon after, I heard Mr Cooper making his way back to his room. Once his door clicked shut, I buried my head in my pillow and cried myself back to sleep.
In the morning, I clambered out of bed feeling tired and cranky. The tear stains were still visible on my pillow and cheeks and my eyes were red and bloodshot. I sighed as I gazed at my appearance in the mirror, then quickly hurried through a warm shower and got dressed into my uniform. I applied just a little eyeliner and mascara to set off my green eyes, and some concealer to hide the purple bags from my continuously restless nights. Then I checked my watch, 8:30am. There was only half an hour before lessons start. Quickly, I grabbed by backpack, which I had previously packed the night before and set off for breakfast.
The canteen was full of students of different ages, all hurriedly trying to finish eating before class. I hovered around lamely after collecting my food, unsure of where to sit.
“Hey! Phoebe! Over here!” A voice caught my attention. I looked around hastily and saw Jo-Jo waving frantically at me from a corner table, sitting by herself. I grinned and made my way over to her, sliding my tray next to hers as I sat down.
“Good morning.” I greeted her with a smile. Jo-Jo was really going out of her way to make me feel welcome and I appreciated it a lot.
“Good morning to you too. The others have already finished eating. Let’s have a look at your timetable then.” She said as she finished the last few mouthfuls on her plate.
“Give me a second.” I fumbled around in my bag and passed it over into her outstretched hand. I started to eat as she compared it to her own.
“Awesome!” she babbled excitedly. “We have Biology for the first two periods together and Chemistry after lunch! You can sit with me for those classes. We both have single Maths during period three but not with the same teachers. That’s a shame. You don’t have any lessons period four though, you lucky thing!” She groaned in envy. “I have English!”
I laughed at her expression. “Where am I meant to go during my free?” I asked. “Should I go back to my room?”
“You can if you want to. You can do anything you want really as long as you don’t leave the school grounds or disrupt any lessons. Most people hang out in the common room or work in the study room. It’s your choice.” She explained as I listened carefully.
We carried on talking as I finished eating my toast. Then we both set off for the science department in the right wing of the building for our biology lesson. I was so absorbed with my conversation, I didn’t notice a door on my right open quickly and banged right into it, falling over backwards and landing on my bum.
“Ouch!” I cried in shock as Jo-Jo erupted into peals of laughter. My face burned with humiliation as I glared at her but she was laughing too hard to notice. Some other students sniggered when they saw me on the floor, before carrying on towards lessons.
“Miss Miller, I’m so awfully sorry!” I groaned with embarrassment as a cold feeling slithered down by back. Why was it always him that I made a fool of myself in front of?
“Allow me to help you up?” Mr Cooper bent down and offered me his hand which I took, trying to ignore the tingles from his touch. He pulled me up and gave me an apologetic smile, before continuing down the corridor.
“Oh Phoebe, that was priceless!” Jo-Jo hiccoughed slightly as her laughter subsided. I shot her a look and marched off down the corridor. “I’m sorry. It was just your face! Your expression was hilarious!” She started to laugh again as she trailed after me.
My lips twitched slightly as I fought back the grin.
“Ha! I saw that! You forgive me!” Jo-Jo crowed as she did a little dance of celebration, attracting weird stares from other students.
“Okay, fine. I forgive you. But that was beyond embarrassing.” I cringed slightly as I remembered.
“Yeah, but on the plus side, you got to hold hands with the hottest guy in the school! That was Mr Cooper, our chemistry teacher.” She fanned herself dramatically and my cheeks grew hot.
“I know who he is, I’ve already met him. And I didn’t hold hands with him!” I protested. “He just gave me help up! And you shouldn’t be thinking stuff like that about a teacher; it’s wrong.” I tried to ignore the fact that I had been having similar thoughts about him since I first set eyes on him.
“Oh come on! Don’t try and deny the fact that you’re thinking the exact same thing! It’s written all over your face!” She winked at me and then led me into our classroom. I followed, mumbling pointless denials which she just ignored. We grabbed two desks at the back and waited as the class slowly filled up. Some of my classmates looked at me with interest and I smiled shyly at them all. The bell rang, clear and loud and all the students milling around the room scuttled to their desks. A thin woman bustled into the room and took a seat at the front. Clearing her throat, she studied a note which had been placed on her desk and then gazed around the room until her eyes met mine.
“So, as you may have seen, we have a new student with us now. Would you like to stand up and introduce yourself?” She nodded at me and I clambered to my feet, my palms slightly sweaty.
“Hello, I’m Phoebe Miller. I’m 17 years old and I just moved here from Surrey.” I trailed off uncertainly, hating the feeling of so many eyes upon me.
“That’s lovely, dear. You can sit down now.” I sank down into my seat thankfully and the lesson finally begun.
YOU ARE READING
Chemical Attraction (Student/Teacher Relationship)
Teen FictionWhat would you do if you lost everything that ever mattered to you? When Phoebe Miller loses her family in a car crash, her answer is to simply close in on herself. She is too scared to get close to someone new, due to the fear of losing someone els...
